Abstract
Removal of uranium(VI) by zerovalent iron has been suggested as a feasible pathway to control uranium contaminations in seepage waters. Available information in the literature however presents discrepant evidence on the process responsible for the mitigation effect. On basis of an EH-pH diagram of uranium and iron, it is outlined that these discrepancies may be explained by the aqueous chemistry of uranium and iron. Additional effects contributing to the complexity of the system are given. Solubilization experiments using scrap iron together with water works sludge, MnO2, and pyrite indicate that U(VI) is immobilized by iron corrosion products after about 50 days.
Highlights
This study was motivated by recent reports on the application of zero-valent iron (ZVI) to the removal of uranium from aqueous solutions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
ZVI has some favorable prospects in mitigating hazards from uranium contaminations by an economically attractive technology
The U-Fe-H2O-CO2 system is sensitive to several parameters that are only partly under control of the experimenter, i.e. CO2 partial pressure, structure, composition and reactivity of the iron corrosion products or the detailed uranium speciation in solution
Summary
This study was motivated by recent reports on the application of zero-valent iron (ZVI) to the removal of uranium from aqueous solutions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Removal of uranium by a reactive wall system holding scrap iron promises an environmentally and economically beneficient alternative. Removal of uranium by ZVI depends on the chemical thermodynamics of the two redox-sensitive system iron and uranium. Despite the relevance of iron species in aqueous solution to environmental and biological processes (i.e. 14, 15), the hydrolysis of Fe(III) is by no means well understood [16, 17, 18]
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